Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Horse Expo, Clark County Washington, 2


This booth kept me warm!! LOL LOL I had a Chai, and later a hot tea, it was cold and damp out in the arena. This booth is outside in the arena. Nothing better than a big hot 16oz cup of tea when you are cold.
 The gaited horse guy, I forgot his name. He was so soft spoken, and talked for a long time. The audio in this arena really sucks, its distorted and you can not hear what they say.
 The Peruvians were so pretty in the full costumes. And they looked warmer than some of the others!




This little dog walked through the crowd on the back of a mini.

 
 Then we sat down to watch the Extreme Cowboy Race. We were at the back of the arena, and had to stand at the rail. The seating also sucks at this venue. There were a lot of people, and the seating is at arena level, so even if you can sit down there are rude people who will stand at the rail so you cant see through them.
Come in and run a full round of the arena.
1. barrels w bucket of water
2. bridge
3. walk through the black plastic walls
4. gate
5. back through
6. wagon wheel
7. tarp with deer walk through
8. the pool finger walk through
Run another full circle around the arena, ending back by the wagon wheel

If you can see him on the far side, he is doing an obstacle that is two pvc pipes with a tennis ball on top of one, and you transfer it to the other.
 This Mule did a great job with the wagon wheel.
 A rope gate.
 fixing the poles of the wagon wheel, and a rider starting in the back.
 The back through.
 The multiple judges, dont know exactly how many were judges. Again you couldnt understand the announcer. Just the loud music.
 There is the walk over with the deer.
 Oh and the pool finger, walk through, some of them try to jump through it. I have done this with Emma and they dont really like it at first.
 The bucket transfer.
 The bridge, I really couldnt tell what they made it out of. There is a tarp and rocks, and I dont know if it was plywood or an actual bridge.
 The next thing we watched were the Vaulters. They were pretty incredible. The horses are huge! They looked like Belgians. They had an open arena time for all the kids to try Vaulting. this is a little girl riding.
 They all had to practice first. There is a practice dummy in there.
 The whole time the horse in cantering.


 There is the practice dummy. They all had to stand in line and do this, before they could sit on a horse.
 Craig Cameron.
 Craig and Steve Rother. They talked about getting a handle on your horse, again the audio in here is aweful too. Craig has a raspy voice that doesnt come across very clear, Steves voice was clearer.
 The flag ceremony before the evening entertainment. At least they didnt charge an extra $6-8 bucks this year to watch.
 A pair of Friesians came out and did a dressage routine, they were tacked up in western saddles, Cowboy Dressage.
 They were going to fast and in the indoor light I couldnt get good photos.
 Then two Andalusions came out, and one Freisian, they did a Medieval skit.
 Steve Rother did the same pole dancing routine as last year, except I think he was better last year. He has a 14 foot long pole that he is riding with.
 The vaulters came out next.


 This was a cute skit with the mini and a Jack Russel.

 He rides the little horse around.
Then my camera died. This was the last thing though. It died because I took a lot of videos. When I figure out how to post them I will share!!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Horse Expo, Clark County Washington

Washington Horse Fair and Expo, This is the second year this company has had this event. Four years ago it was put on by The Mane Event, the same company that puts on a big expo up in Alberta. For some reason they did it for two years, then stopped. We had a year with no expo, then this company started one.
For all intensive purposes, it was almost the same as last year, except they didnt charge $8 bucks extra to see the entertainment show at 8PM. Oh and they didnt invite Mark Bolender back this year?? I have made a few comments on the expos FB that I was really disappointed that he wasnt back, he could have really spiced up the show, with what he does, although, he is probably fairly expensive to have come. I dont know how that works, because they would get all kinds of business from the show too. Craig Cameron, Barb Apple, Steve Rother, Kyle Kellmer, and Allison Trimble, were some of the clinitions. 

Anyway, our first stop was talking with the Back country Horsemen of Washington. They are a wonderful group that maintains trails and does a lot for the trail horse community in this area. We have a friend that is very active in BCH, and we visited with him for awhile.
 They had a nice booth with all the pamphlets and info, camping with your horses and leaving no trace. Big deal up here, because if you dont, the water will erode everything and ruin the environment. These BCH people even pack gravel in buckets, on mules up into the trails to maintain them, build bridges and maintain them etc.! All volunteers!! I believe they gave packing demos at the show too.

 There were some new trailers to drool over! LOL All those fancy shmancy living quarters trailers, sigh!!
I really dont care for the back tack area. I cant imagine, if you had a horse go down having to throw all your tack out to get the dang thing open and get to the horse! Not for me! We all know shit happens sometimes when you haul horses.
 As big and long as this trailer is, a three horse, it sure had a tiny living quarters area. The fridge, the sink and counter and the bed, not even a place to sit down. They are all Circle J brand.
 Lots of people on Saturday. A vender from up north even came down, the tack shop is called The Bony Pony, always thought that was cute.
 We talked to the rep at this booth for awhile.
 He had lots of props on his table. Can you see the difference between these two hooves?
 The one on the left is a normal hoof. The one on the right is a foundered hoof. Note how the tip of the coffin bone points down to the sole, not good, in severe founder this is what happens when the bone pokes through the sole. And all their suppliments to help with problems.
 More shopping.
 Not a whole lot of venders, but enough, hope it gets a little bigger. The only thing I bought besides food is a pair of horsie socks!!! Prices sure seemed high!  Did talk to a friend that does leather work, and has gaited horses. Carol just bought a Rocky Mtn horse, and Judy has a Foxtrotter. I snuck my question about how much a custom holster would be, @$90., and how much his chinks are, $249. to $450.  I so want a pair of chinks, just because you know! LOL
 Then we went outside to the "Hall of breeds"  This picture shows all the people in line to come in.
 The first horse we seen is a pretty Peruvian Paso, the saddles they use are so cool, sorry this is blury, I was trying to get the tooling.
 The harness around the back legs and tail, dont remember what its called.
 Beautiful stirrups too.
 There were two palomino ones. The bridles have a lot of detail too.
 Carol asking the gaited horse guy some questions. His mare is a Kentucky/Rocky Mtn Horse. (I over heard him say that later). All we could figure out is that the difference between Kentucky Mtn, and Rocky Mtn. is politics! LOL But I believe they are two separate registries.
 Judy joined her to ask some questions too.
 Rockies have cute faces. She liked Carols bag, and kept licking it.
 I of course had to find the Appaloosa booth!
 This guy was so funny, at first I thought he was a mare, until we walked over and looked at him. He would lift his leg and kick the rail just hard enough to ring it like a bell, because the miniature spotted donkey next to him, annoyed him! LOL he did it several times while we were in there, until they moved the donkey.
 There were to many people, I did not get a good picture of this guy. He is a Freisian/Appaloosa cross. He is a stud, 8 years old. Nothing special that I could see, other than spots. What a strange cross.
 He was very sweet tempered. But why would you want to breed to him?
More to come, and some videos if I can figure out how to upload them.